Kodak Brownie Starmatic

It was the pinnacle of Kodak’s durable, if not quite venerable, Brownie line – a Brownie with a built-in selenium light meter for automatic exposure control. The meter fed a simple mechanical system that adjusted the aperture. The aperture maxed at f/8, the limit of its plastic Kodar lens, and the shutter fired at only one speed, but at least the Starmatic let you set film speed. This was pretty heady stuff for the world’s leading line of inexpensive cameras!

Not that the Starmatic could be considered inexpensive. It cost a whopping $34.50 when it went on sale in 1959. That’s equivalent to about $260 today.

Nobody knows for sure how many Brownie Starmatics Kodak cranked out across its 1959-1961 run. (My Starmatic’s CAMEROSITY code says it was made in November, 1959, by the way.) The same goes for its successor, the slightly updated Brownie Starmatic II, which Kodak produced until 1963. Both cameras were part of Kodak’s Brownie Star series, of which more than 10 million are said to have been made. So cameras from this series have long been plentiful.

Atop the Starmatic lie two dials. The smaller dial sets film speed, from 32 to 125 ASA. I guess 125 was considered pretty fast in 1959. The larger dial sets exposure. Choose Auto to let the light meter do the work, or chose the Exposure Value (EV) guide number that matches your conditions:

12 for overcast

13 for cloudy but bright

14 for weak or hazy sun

15 for bright sun

16 for bright sun on sand or snow

I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t use Auto. Kodak probably figured the same thing, because when you turn this dial off Auto a piece of transparent amber plastic fills the viewfinder to alert you.

The primitive mechanical metering works well as long as the selenium in the meter is strong. The shutter operates at 1/40 sec, I’m guessing. The meter reads the light and pushes a mechanical stop into place. This stop limits the aperture — as you press the shutter, the aperture blades close until the closing mechanism reaches that stop. Since “wide open” is f/8, this camera biases toward plenty of depth of field.

When you’re ready to snap a shot, peer through the viewfinder. If a red flag appears inside, the light meter isn’t reading enough light and the photo will be underexposed. If the big dial is set to Auto, you’ll need to use flash. Otherwise, try a higher EV number. The flag still works on my Starmatic, but hard telling whether the light meter is still accurate.

On the back, the little red window shows the exposure number on the film’s backing paper. The Starmatic takes 12 square photographs on size 127 rollfilm. Kodak discontinued 127 film in 1995, but you can get a Japanese b/w film, Rera Pan 100, in a few places (notably at Freestyle Photo) and The Frugal Photographer in Calgary cuts down a few other film stocks onto 127 spools and sells them here. Many mail-order labs still process 127, such as Dwayne’s Photo.

All of the Brownie Star series cameras feature a drop-out film loading and transport system. You flip a lever and the entire camera bottom slides out. The film winder is on the bottom plate, too.

If you like simple Kodak cameras, check out my reviews of the Baby Brownie (here), the Brownie Hawkeye (here), the Duaflex II (here), the No. 2 Brownie, Model D (here), the No. 2 Hawk-Eye (here), and the Tourist (here). Or check out all of my camera reviews here.

This isn’t my first Starmatic. I bought one in about 1980, probably at a garage sale. I loaded a roll of Kodacolor into it just before Christmas in 1981. That Starmatic came with a flash attachment and a whole bunch of flashbulbs. The flash was blisteringly bright, and I blame it for washing out most of my Christmas morning shots. This one of me turned out well enough. I was 13. I had just received a nice dictionary as a gift.

This time I started with some Kodak Portra 160 that had been cut and respooled onto 127 spools. The camera supports films up to only ISO 125, so that’s where I set it. The Portra handled the slight overexposure like a champ.

I took the Starmatic on a walk through Indianapolis’s colorful Broad Ripple neighborhood. Everything on the Starmatic worked as it should.

I finished the roll in my father’s hometown of Handley, West Virginia. Dad wasn’t sure, but he thought this might have been the house he was born in.

The next time I shot the Starmatic I used Efke 100 film, which was still being produced then and was available in 127. It was the last fresh 127 film manufactured.

I wasn’t wowed by this film in this camera. I’m glad I shot the Portra first, or I might have assumed that this camera wasn’t very capable.

The next time I shot the Starmatic I bought some Kodak Ektar that had been cut down and respooled. It performed well.

All is not perfect with the Starmatic, however. This shot shows the strange distortion inherent in the lens. It’s noticeable only when you shoot a flat surface straight on like this. Also, the viewfinder isn’t accurate. I had centered the doorway in the viewfinder when I made this photo.

I’ve heard that the Starmatic lens is a triplet, but its performance reminds me of a meniscus lens. It delivers sufficient sharpness for snapshot-sized prints, but if you look at any of these images at full scan size they are as soft as Wonder bread.

But these are my only complaints. I rather enjoy shooting this simple camera! It’s too bad 127 isn’t still made — the hand-cut and -spooled stuff is expensive. But this camera is so pleasant that it’s worth it to plunk down the cash for that film from time to time.

If you like old film cameras, check out all of my reviews here! To get Down the Road in your inbox or feed reader, subscribe here.

I LOVE older cameras. The shape and look of them are gorgeous. I had an old German camera from my grandfather which I still have not figured out how to use. It looks pretty lovely on our bookshelf, though :)

Cool post,
I was a member of the Polaroid era (at least that’s what i remember first, when i was younger i must have eaten paint chips or something because i can’t remember a thing from back then), so it’s hard for me to grasp the allure of these venerated devices, but they are certainly fun to look at now – being that i have a far stronger camera in my cellphone – if only to appreciate the road we’ve traveled so far.
Thanks for the perspective
~J

I love old photos and just downloaded a bunch. What memories they engender. They started such a stream of comments with the whole family, with tagging everybody, it’s so much fun! Thanks for sharing…Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!

I enjoy it too. I had a collection as a kid that grew to over 100 cameras, mostly junky ones, but I loved them all just the same. The collection went by the by along the way, and a few years ago I decided I missed it and started collecting again. I have probably 20 cameras now. I favor ones I can still easily get film for.

I’m not a photographer so the finer points of the technicality of photographing or indeed cameras escape me, but looking at the fabulous piece of retro (the camera itself) I would be happy to have it in my house as art- seriously, the symmetry and the design of it, so cool…

The entire Kodak Brownie Star series was the work of a man named Arthur Crapsey. He had a hand in many of Kodak’s designs of the day. Thanks for reminding me to mention his name — he deserves credit for this design!

Found my way here, like many, via the WordPress homepage today. Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!

I love vintage anything, and I love photography. Your Starmatic is beautiful. I also love the 80s, so +1 for your old school picture. Also looking forward to reading your posts about faith and spirituality.

I don’t collect cameras, but I do collect about everything else. Old mixing bowls, coins, spoons, Happy Meal Toys, insulators..I know there’s more! I really like your pictures and learning about old cameras. Your blog is fun – glad I found you!

I am one of those people that look at all these big beautiful camera’s, envy the users, marvel at the photographs taken…..want to be able to use them, but then need and settle for simple and conveniant.
Awesome to have something so different to collect.
Congratulations on being freshly pressed!!
xx

So nice to see when someone is passionate about their work! My husband has old cameras, old binoculars, authentic and scratched up Thonet chairs(alive and well at our living room table)…..I love your photos…they give me a warm feeling and remind me of my belated Grandfather:-)

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My son has a couple vintage Polaroids. He has my old “Pronto” and a couple “Swingers”, and Kodak’s answer to the “Swinger” called the “Pleaser”. I myself have a Kodak “Brownie” and various vintage instamatics, including “The Disc” and “Pocket”. I now have an EasyShare that I love. Can’t beat Kodak! But it’s fun going to garagesales and seeing a camera that you know is vintage and they’re selling it for .50!

Looks like a sharp lens on that nice little camera. I’ve gotten interested again in shooting 127 film thanks to my Brownie Reflex. The lenses aren’t the most sophisticated on most of this type camera, but the format gives you quite a lot more negative area than 35mm and often produces excellent results.

I am a novice in reg to cameras. When I was very young I had two 120 size b&W cameras. then i had one 35 mm colour camera with universal focus with which i covered quite a few family events . It’s simplicity allowed me to freeze quite a few candid moments which most of my friends and relatives cherish. And then a decade ago I had a really good camera Brother2000 or so I dont remember, which I used only for a short whilebecause by that time digital cameras have appeared and were quite cheaper to use. I now use a panasonicdigital camera with built in flash and zoom. The surfeit of memory available makes it possible to just aim and shoot anything and everything.. i dont find time to sort the really good pictures with the chaff

My primary camera is digital, and I agree — digital makes it so easy to take lots of photos. My photography has improved dramatically since I bought my first digital camera a few years ago, if nothing else because it is so much easier to practice!

Nice article, just a correction you may want to note: The meter controls the aperture, not the shutter speed. If you look in the center window as you slowly press the shutter, you will see a sloped metal bar rise up to meet the red meter needle. This bar limits the opening of the aperture, the further to the left the needle, the smaller the aperture. You should see the aperture change sizes as you press the shutter. The manual control settings work the same way, a tab moves across the window and limits the aperture movement. I just added one of these to my collection and found your post on a google search.

I found a Starmatic with a working meter today for $5 at an antique fair. I may never shoot it, but I am always amazed at how old Kodaks never die. My other bargain find, from the same vendor, was a Rollei 35 for $20! Seems to work. Gotta figure out how to get the stuck battery cap off to know if that meter works.

I have a complete boxed untouched starmite which has the camera still in its original cellophane. Am a little unsure how to proceed re looking after it or finding a good home for it. Am guessing it is not worth much but interested in what the experts would suggest I do with such a lovely object.